| Common Name |
Velvet Mesquite |
| Latin Name |
Prosopis velutina |
| Native Habitat |
0 to 5,700 feet in Sonoran Desert |
| Soil |
Dry, decomposed granite, sand, clay loam, low
to high organic content, well drained |
| Water |
Once or none per month in hot weather |
| Height X Width |
15 feet X 15 feet up to 30 feet X 30 feet |
| Protective Mechanism |
Thorns |
| Leaves |
Small leaflet pairs, deciduous |
| Garden Suitability |
Songbird, Sonoran |
| Ornamental Value |
Light yellow flowers with long stamens late spring to
mid-summer, seed pods |
| Nature Value |
Flowers used by bees, seeds eaten by birds, animal eat
seeds and pods |
| Native American Uses |
Blossoms used to make tea, pods crushed into sweet pulpy
juice, dried pods ground into meal to make mush and cakes, pods eaten
raw, roasted blossoms boiled and eaten, bark pounded to make soft cloth
for diapers, clothing, netting for pottery, and cordage, gum used as
adhesive to make arrows, wood used to make bows |
| Links |
|
| Images and data |
http://cals.arizona.edu/pima/gardening/aridplants/Prosopis_velutina.html |
| Images and data |
http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Fabaceae/Prosopis_velutina.html |
| Images and data |
http://www.fireflyforest.com/flowers/yellows/yellow17.html |
| Images and data |
http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/velvet_mesquite.htm |
| Images and data |
http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/Syllabus2/factsheet.cfm?ID=621 |
| Images and data |
http://wc.pima.edu/~bfiero/tucsonecology/plants/trees_vm.htm |
| Images and data |
http://www.naturesongs.com/vvplants/mesquite.html |
| Distribution map |
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PRVE |
